Not long after, the leading honor guard entered the square.
At the head is a large group of riders, surrounded by two generals wearing red robes and exaggerated feather crowns. The crowd erupted in cheers, and the riders signaled to the crowd. They came to the square, reined in their horses and stood still under the viewing platform.
"Who is this?" Zhu Wenkui asked.
"My cousin Guo Zhaowen, and Yang Fugui, the leader of the 'Hammer of Basil'." Guo Kang said: "The unit that received the highest merit this time was the 'Hammer of Basil', so the victory was also based on this unit. Lord. As the directly subordinate legion commanders and chapter commanders, according to custom, they serve as the vanguard in the honor guard."
"The name of this battle group is quite interesting." Zhu Wenkui asked curiously: "Is there any allusion to it?"
"This is a siege regiment." Guo Kang said: "In most cases, the battle regiment is the armed force of the military government and will not be dispatched as a whole when participating in the war. Our habit is called 'people take turns to fight, and the ground takes turns to rest.' .Even if large-scale conscription is required, generally only individual brigades will be drawn from local battle groups."
"However, later wars became more and more complex, but the scale of local battle groups was limited. For some arms that have relatively high professional and technical requirements, they were unable to support a large-scale force. The first to encounter this situation were firearms. "
"This thing requires a special process from production to use. And there is a big difference in efficiency between using it in large quantities and using it sporadically. Therefore, we began to form a special battle group and centrally equip special personnel. Weapons and specialized training.”
"To the northwest of us, near Hungary and Alemany, there are a large number of fortified fortresses. After discovering that we could not be eliminated by the Crusades, the lords over there worked desperately to build more, trying to prevent us from attacking. Into their hinterland. In order to deal with this situation, we have prepared a specialized army to fight tit for tat."
"This kind of siege battle group was specially established by the Khanate at its own expense. The engineers and soldiers in the regiment were also selected from the best of the entire Khanate. So they have very strong combat effectiveness, especially like this time, there are There are multiple castles that need to be demolished, so it’s no surprise that they get the top spot.”
Guo Kang was also very proud of this and explained it enthusiastically. While he was speaking, a large group of infantrymen had arrived at the street entrance. The leading officers waved flags and asked the soldiers to adjust their formation. Everyone slowed down a little and walked into the square in neat formation.
More and more citizens were watching, and many people followed the procession and squeezed into the square from the streets. Some people simply climbed up to the several buildings in the noble area facing the Empress Temple.
The window on the second floor of the small building opened, and a bald Greek stuck his head out, cursing and trying to drive away the audience. However, everyone ignored him completely and even took out ropes and started climbing like wall-climbing tigers.
The people below also sang a song:
"Look at that sissy Vlahos,
He chatters like a fly!
Look at that sheep-like Vlahos,
He gestures and makes people unhappy! "
Seeing that everyone was targeting him, the homeowner hurriedly retracted his head and hid it. Another burst of laughter erupted from the crowd.
"What are you doing over there?" Zhu Wenkui asked curiously.
"That's Master Vlahos, Michael Vlahos." Guo Kang seemed to recognize the man and smiled: "He is a stingy old guy who is famous throughout the city. You will definitely know him in the future."
The little farce quickly passed, and under the expectant eyes of everyone, the infantrymen in heavy armor entered the square.
Everyone in the small phalanx at the head was wearing thick Zha armor with a chest plate on the outside, and the same bright red cloak as the leader's back. Many pieces of armor showed signs of damage, and the soldiers proudly displayed the scratches, holes, and black spots of smoke.
Everyone gathered around a big flag. The flag was a simple white cloth with a barrel drawn on it with a few strokes. The flag was mutilated, one corner burned. There are two holes in the upper center.
"Is this their team flag?" Zhu Wenkui asked: "Why does that pattern look like a barrel? What does it mean?"
"That is indeed a barrel." Guo Kang nodded: "This is the first brigade of the 'Hammer of Basil', responsible for supervising the production and management of gunpowder in peacetime. During combat, they especially like to dig tunnels and use piles of The gunpowder barrels exploded directly through the city walls. That’s why others called them ‘barrel boys’.”
"These people are not simple. Nearly half of the soldiers in the regiment are long-term non-commissioned officers. The others rotate like ordinary battle groups. But unlike other battle groups, they do not have a military mansion to which they belong. That is to say There is no recruiting ground. They are recruiting soldiers from the entire Khanate."
"This rotation is also to cultivate talents from other troops, so that other battle groups can use their experience and technology when needed."
"No wonder the armor is so thick. These are the warriors who were the first to get into the battle." Zhu Wenkui said with emotion.
"According to our rules, if a castle is garrisoned by fifty people, it will count as one hundred heads if it is captured. If there are soldiers inside, it will be counted separately. A large fortress defended by 500 people will count as two thousand heads if it is captured. This time they More than 20 large and small fortresses were blown up along the way, and most of the battle achievements were obtained by this person." Guo Kang smiled and shook his head: "Others are a little unconvinced. I heard that each legion also wants to organize its own Where’s the demolition team?”
"There is such a thing..." Little Jeanne was also a little surprised: "I thought siege with firearms meant artillery bombardment."
"The shelling is too slow." Guo Kang shook his head: "The current artillery is still not effective. Moreover, when we attack the city, the goal is not the castle itself, but to quickly break the enemy's fortress blockade, attack their rear, and force the enemy's main force to come out. Fight us in the wild."
"Under this idea, the most important thing is to concentrate a large amount of gunpowder and use it together to quickly destroy the fortress. Small cannons are not effective enough, ordinary siege cannons are slow to move, and giant siege cannons are almost immovable and can only be cast on site. "
"In comparison, it takes a long time to attack with artillery shells. However, it is much faster to directly cut the base of the wall and stuff explosives."
"The upper limit of this method is also higher." He explained the technical issues: "Even the thick rammed earth walls of the Central Plains style, the kind of earth mountains that ordinary artillery can't do anything about, can be destroyed by gunpowder blasting, not to mention it is much thinner here. A small castle. We only need to carry lighter ordinary artillery, suppress the soldiers and defensive equipment on the enemy's wall, and then everyone can dig out."
"What if the defenders have been destroying the tunnel?" asked little Jeanne.
"The tunnels used for blasting are not as demanding as the tunnels used for people to enter the city or to dig down the city walls. In a sheltered place, it can be excavated directly close to the city wall." Guo Kang said: "Although Western Europeans also We will determine the location of the tunnel and use various techniques to intercept it, but we are not planning to dig through it in the first place, we just need to drill a hole under the city wall."
"If you are still worried about them accurately judging and using tunnels to destroy the attack, you can dig more. In this attack on the fortress, the 'Barrel Boy' and the auxiliary troops dug 17 trenches and tunnels at the same time. Even if the enemy It's useless to use 'earth listening', because the sound of digging is heard from all directions, and there's no way it can stop so many people."
"As a result, the mercenaries inside surrendered before the digging was completed." Guo Kang said with a smile: "Our current difficulty is only the production of gunpowder, and other aspects are actually not problems."
Little Jeanne was quite curious about this, but at this moment, the first team had already stood in the square, and another group of soldiers came in.
Their clothes were similar to those in front of them, but they were obviously bigger. They also carried a simple black flag with a white background and a laurel wreath on it.
"This is the second team 'Olympia'." Guo Kang took the initiative to introduce: "The pattern on the flag means the winners of the Olympic Games. Because this team was first recruited from the winners of the Olympic Games."
"Huh? Selecting candidates for the sports games?" Zhu Wenkui still didn't seem to understand: "I heard about the ancient Olympics from the Greek master, but can it still select candidates like this?"
"Their requirements are quite special." Guo Kang explained: "This team was specifically designed to test the Sky Thunder at the beginning. We found that this thing is especially useful during sieges and street fighting."
"However, in order for this kind of weapon to reach the standard of power, it must be very large and heavy. It is difficult for ordinary people to throw it too far without training."
"At that time, someone remembered that in the classical era, there were soldiers in the Roman army who specialized in throwing large stones, and suggested that we could follow suit. And everyone immediately thought of the shot put and discus throwing events in the ancient Olympic Games. So, this method It’s also been promoted.”
"At first, the sports games were only held in the military, but later they were gradually opened up and civilians could also participate. According to the regulations, anyone who achieves good enough results in the competition can join the team."
"So, their brigade is actually even more exaggerated than the first brigade. Except for the non-commissioned officers from other regiments who are transferred to train and study, the other soldiers are basically recruited soldiers. They basically no longer engage in other jobs, but focus on sports and War is their main business. Of course, the prerequisite for this higher treatment is that their selection conditions are much more stringent. It can be said that the warriors in the brigade are one to ten."
"Just looking at this physique, it's amazing." Zhu Wenkui praised.
"Yes. Another advantage of their brigade is that it has attracted many Greeks to join the army." Guo Kang said: "Many people feel that they are strong enough, so they are rushing to achieve this goal."
"Anyway, Greeks like this kind of sports games very much. Now there are many Greeks here who come from above-average families and specialize in sports and philosophy. So despite looking rough, their average quality is actually quite high. "
"Of course, this has also caused a lot of trouble for the normal soldiers in the team. Some strange Greeks always like to harass them... I suspect that they regard the 'Olympia' team as a holy group." Guo Kang scratched his head: "This It’s a side effect, and I feel like there’s nothing I can do about it…”
(End of chapter)
